


lilac fumes

by feychella



Series: treasured wings [4]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25242913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feychella/pseuds/feychella
Summary: Althea brings Barb home.
Relationships: Althea Song & Bloodhawk Barb, Bloodhawk Barb/Althea Song
Series: treasured wings [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814374
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	lilac fumes

**Author's Note:**

> The conclusion to treasured wings. :)

Althea surveys the battlefield, desperately searching for Barb. The pale pink winter evening fades in and her breath fogs up the air before her. She stares over the bodies of her teachers and current students. _They didn’t deserve this._ But she couldn’t save everyone. Althea continues circling, wings eventually giving out, dropping her to the ground. She throws her glasses into her bag and sighs. Althea would keep walking until she finds her. Of course she would.

And then she sees her. Glasses smashed to pieces beside her and the bloodhawk sitting over her body, head bowed. The reddish wings spread protectively over Barb as Althea approaches slowly. She breaks into a run and skids towards her on her knees, kicking up dirt and dust behind her. Carefully, she cradles her friend, partner, lover in her arms, sobbing over her body. Pressing her ear to Barb’s chest, she hears silence and sits back, body suddenly weak. Lightheaded, she watches the bloodhawk fly into the distance.

 _Where would he go?_ No, never mind about that now. _Where would she go?_ She had returned to the school to see Barb, under the guise of HOG business. And now...Althea didn’t have a home. After this war, there wasn’t anyone for her to return to. How could she be expected to keep going? Barb’s dark hair fans around her, blood dried on the edges of her head. She was covered in blood, most of it not her own. But...here. An arrow had pierced through her left shoulder, pinning her to the ground. Althea squeezes her eyes shut, trying not to envision her final moments. Glancing down at her finger, she notices the promise ring glowing in the faint evening light. _I love you,_ she can almost hear Barb's voice, in the back of her head.

Sobs wrack her body as she picks up Barb’s hand and presses her knuckles to her lips. _I’m sorry._ Her eyes were lifeless, staring up at the sky. Althea rests her head on her stomach before gathering her in her arms. _Is it a trap?_ The HOG hadn’t prepared her for this. Wiggenstaff’s hadn’t prepared her for _this._ How could you be prepared to carry the broken body of your best friend, the love of your life, off a battlefield where she was left to die without a second thought? She didn't deserve this. None of these student-turned soldiers _deserved_ this. Where were the teachers? Where were the brave troops? Where were the people that promised to protect them?

Althea had been ready to write letters home. _Dear loved one._ Ready to use her template, the template they’d given her just in case a war broke out. _I express my deepest condolences._ When she closes her eyes, she sees the little girl in the village, falling to a group of imps. _For your fallen daughter._ She sees herself cutting down the imps and holding the girl as she dies. And then she sees herself getting up. She keeps going. They all have to keep going. What else is there to do? _Thank you for your service._ Barb is heavy in her arms and the scent of smoke rises around the two of them. Althea stumbles towards the school, and the sky darkens around her. She has to bury Barb. It’s what she deserved.

She lurches forward and glances behind her. Bile rises in her throat and her head spins again. A small band of demons holding torches toss fire at the bodies of the students lying on the ground. They burn the students, the teachers, the centaurs, even their own. Something snaps in her and she carries Barb forward, murmuring a protection spell. Her voice breaks on the last line. _I love you,_ she whispers to Barb as the spell surrounds them.

Althea can barely see ten feet ahead of her, smoke pouring in. Demons chatter around her, hissing when they get close. Her rage keeps the protection spell up. _Get her home._ The smell of rust rises around them, threatening to overtake her. A strong floral scent cuts through the battlefield and Althea gags, trying to keep her composure. She closes her eyes again, the cold of winter stealing breath from her lungs and presses onward. Was it her imagination, or could she hear Barb gasping for air? No, those were her own gasps. Her chest threatens to burst as she walks forward, barrier flickering then flashing away. The memories come faster than she wants them to and she manages to silence them, for only a moment, before they pour in again.

Althea doesn’t know when she stumbles through the gates of the school, to safety. They try to take Barb from her, but she’s holding on too tight, tighter than needed. The arrow is still embedded in her shoulder and Althea refuses to let them carry her to a medical bed. _I love you._ After the medical bed she'd be six feet under. She couldn't let that happen.

Her breath comes in gasps. Barb was never one for the outdoors. She buries her head in Barb’s shoulder. Her body is wracked with sobs and eventually the students leave, everyone _leaves,_ because what else were they supposed to do? Barb was dead, and no one could bring her back. She holds Barb's hand and repeats her name like a desperate prayer to the moon. Althea carries her to a bed, refusing to leave her side, cleaning her up with the edges of her cloak. _I love you._


End file.
